Miami Vice
This article is about the TV series itself. For other uses, see Miami Vice (Disambiguation). Miami Vice is a television series produced by Michael Mann for the NBC network. The show became noted for its heavy integration of music and visual effects to tell a story. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas two Miami-Dade (then known as Metro-Dade) detectives working undercover in Miami's drug and prostitution underworld. It ran for five seasons on NBC from September, 1984 through June, 1989, then the USA Network broadcast one unaired episode in January, 1990. A movie adaptation was released in July, 2006, with Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx in the lead roles. Origin of Miami Vice The show was the idea of then-NBC program executive Brandon Tartikoff, who (per legend) wrote a memo on a napkin simply saying "MTV Cops" (referring to the success of the then-all video Music Television network). He presented the memo to Anthony Yerkovich, previously a writer and producer on another NBC police series, Hill Street Blues. Yerkovich says the idea came from a recently-passed law allowing law enforcement to seize properties and ill-gotten gains (a law referenced in the episode "Golden Triangle (Part II)") of drug dealers for department use. Yerkovich created his script, called Gold Coast, about two Miami vice cops. The title was changed to Miami Vice, ''and the setting to south Florida. Production The series was shot in Miami, despite threats to move shooting from the city later in the show's run due to high production costs, which added realism to the series. Production costs were around $1.3 million per episode, $.3 million more than most police series at the time. Keeping with the show's theme, the themes of the episodes revolved around drug dealers and their distributors, prostitution rings, gun runners, counterfeiting, contraband electronics, etc. Most episodes ended with a spectacular gun battle resulting in the deaths of the antagonist(s) and/or numerous goons before being arrested. The underlying theme of the series is the "whack-a-mole" reality of drug cartels; as the detectives bring down one cartel there are several new ones to replace them. Another underlying theme was the corruption present inside the police department and the agencies (FBI/CIA/ATF/DEA) of the federal government as drug dealers bought low-level clerks and/or high-ranking officials to funnel information about ongoing operations. The series was one of the first to be broadcast in stereophonic sound, new to TV in the 1980s, which brought out the music (both background and pop) and made the series unique for its time. The earliest episodes had many of the elements of a standard police procedural, but this was abandoned to allow for the show's distinctive style of cool dialogue, crisp images, and unexpected endings. Production values had a simple theme from Michael Mann (brought in as Executive Producer, the title he would hold throughout the show's run): "No Earth Tones!" The visual appearance of the series was one of pastel colors in its' early seasons for both the actors and the scenes. The use of sports cars for both the police and bad guys gave the appearance of high wealth for all, the cinematography rivaled that of many movies. During production, much of the South Beach area was blighted with rundown buildings, homeless people, and crime. The production team went about restoring the buildings, most of them were Art Deco, by painting over the graffiti on them and fixing up dilapidated structures needed for certain scenes to achieve the shots and scenes needed. This led to a renaissance in the South Beach area as the other buildings/hotels/etc. were renovated and restored, contributing to the revitalization of the South Beach area in the 1990's and the influx of celebrities and luxury hotels and clubs in the 2000s. Casting Among the actors considered for the role of James "Sonny" Crockett were Gary Cole (who appeared in "Trust Fund Pirates"), Larry Wilcox (previously on ''CHiPs), and Nick Nolte (who declined due to his movie career). After going through numerous actors, Mann and Yerkovich agreed on Johnson (who NBC didn't want due to his several recent failed pilots) and Thomas. Gregory Sierra was brought in as the Vice Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez (replaced after four episodes with Edward James Olmos's Castillo due to Sierra not being happy in Miami), and Michael Talbott and John Diehl were cast as Stan Switek and Larry Zito, the squad's surveillance operatives who usually operated out of their "Bug Van". Saundra Santiago and Olivia Brown completed the team as Gina Calabrese and Trudy Joplin respectively, female police officers who seemed to be used for little more than prostitution lures early on, but later became integral characters to the show. Music See also: Music of Miami Vice Miami Vice ''was one of the first shows to incorporate popular music into the episodes at appropriate moments, complimented by background music performed by Jan Hammer (seasons 1-4) and Tim Truman (season 5) instead of using stock or made-for-TV music. Universal reportedly paid out around $10,000 per episode for the rights to use pop songs by artists ranging from U2, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, The Doors, Todd Rundgren, and many others. MCA Records released three soundtrack albums from the series: [[Miami Vice (Album)|''Miami Vice Soundtrack]] in 1985, which became the last TV soundtrack to reach #1 on the Billboard ''Top 200 Album Chart, [[Miami Vice II|''Miami Vice II]], released in 1986, and ''Miami Vice III'', released in 1988. Hammer released his own album, Miami Vice: The Complete Collection ''in 2002, featuring his background music used in the series' first four seasons. During the show's heyday, ''USA Today published the song list for each Miami Vice episode, artists would clamor to get a song to appear on an episode, and American viewers were treated to music from some groups in Europe that had never had a song played in the US. Frequently cited as the show's hallmark scene is the "In The Air Tonight" sequence from the show's pilot, "Brother's Keeper", when Crockett and Tubbs drive through the Miami night to a drug deal. The heavy integration of pop music in the show would result in delays getting the show cleared for DVD release nearly 20 years later. Budget cuts in the fifth season reduced the number of pop songs to the least of any season. Fashion Miami Vice ''was responsible for major fashion changes in the mid-1980s, as the show popularized, or invented, the "T-Shirt under Armani" look. Don Johnson's attire of unconstructed blazer, pastel-colored T-shirt, white linen pants, and loafers without socks caught on around the country, along with Johnson's "designer stubble", while Phillip Michael Thomas wore silk suits from designers Giovanni Versace and Hugo Boss. After Six created "Miami Vice" dinner jackets, Kenneth Cole created Crockett and Tubbs shoes, and Macy's opened a "Miami Vice" section for young men. In Season 3, the pastels were replaced by greens/blues, which upset fans to the extent that the pastels were returned for Seasons 4-5 (though by the middle of Season 5 Crockett was wearing jeans instead of his linen pants). These fashion trends established in the show's five year run continued until the early 1990s. Cars/Boats Crockett's primary car in the first two seasons of the show was a black 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 GTS/4 (actually a kit car based on a 1980 Chevrolet Corvette). When Enzo Ferrari filed a lawsuit requesting to cease producing Ferrari replicas, the fake Daytona was blown up in Season 3's "When Irish Eyes Are Crying" and replaced by two Ferrari-donated 1986 Testarossas (initially black but repainted white before their introduction as Crockett's new car). Tubbs drove a 1964 Cadillac Coupe De Ville convertible, Switek (when not in the van) drove a 1963 Ford Thunderbird convertible, and Gina drove a 1971 Ford LTD convertible. Switek and Zito's listening van was a Dodge Ram Van. Sports/Muscle Cars such as Lamborghinis, Mercedes, Corvettes, Porsches, GTOs, Plymouths, and Mustangs also appeared. Crockett lived on a boat, the ''St. Vitus Dance, an Endeavour 42 sailboat (except in the pilot, when the boat was portrayed by an Endeavour 40), and had a modified 38 SCARAB KV speedboat (Seasons 2-5, Crockett used a Chris Craft Stinger in Season 1). Episodes :See also: Miami Vice Season 1, Miami Vice Season 2, Miami Vice Season 3, Miami Vice Season 4, Miami Vice Season 5 Seasons 1-2 The episodes in the first two seasons were more lighter-toned than in later seasons, with side characters such as Izzy Moreno and Noogie Lamont providing comic relief (and street tips on the cases the main characters were involved in) and Elvis, Crockett's pet alligator, providing his own "bite" into Crockett's boat life. The first few episodes covered Crockett's divorce from his wife Caroline, his son Billy, and a relationship with Gina. Tubbs was adjusting to life in Miami after being in New York, and the whole team had to deal with the death of Lou Rodriguez and the arrival of the exact-opposite Martin Castillo as the new Lieutenant. Crockett and Tubbs had to fight (and eventually take down) the Calderone drug empire, as well as dealing with inside corruption causing problems with cases. Crockett and Tubbs had to travel to New York to eliminate the Revilla drug cartel which had killed DEA agents in Miami (and nearly killed Gina), and deal with Calderone's son Orlando and daughter Angelina, with whom Tubbs had a tryst with that resulted in a son, which was taken away by Orlando but assumed killed in the explosion that took Angelina's life. Real-life situations such as the plight of Cuban exiles in Miami, the homeless, and the South American drug war were touched on but not hard-hitting as in later seasons. Scenes of mid-1980's party life in clubs and at the drug dealers' residences were a frequent sight in the first two seasons. The integration of pop music was very high in the second season, with 90 songs used, including 14 in the second season opener, "The Prodigal Son". Seasons 3-4 (The Dick Wolf Years) Dick Wolf took over from Michael Mann as line producer (with Mann becoming executive producer while overseeing his other TV project, Crime Story), and as a result, the appearance and tone of the show drastically changed. Side characters such as Noogie Lamont and Crockett's pet alligator Elvis were gone or slowly phased out, and also gone were the pastels and laid-back stories in favor of darker colors and stories "ripped from the headlines"--based on recent events such as the Northern Ireland conflict, the Iran-Contra affair, illegal adoptions, AIDS, politicians having affairs, etc. John Diehl's character, Larry Zito, was killed off midway through the third season in a two-part episode. Before the third season began, Don Johnson threatened to leave the series in a salary dispute that was resolved when Mann threatened to replace Johnson with Mark Harmon, who had recently departed the medical drama St. Elsewhere. What drove fans away from the series starting in the third season was a combination of the show being scheduled at 9:00 on Friday, competing directly with CBS' top show, Dallas, and the elimination of the pastels, which gave the series its' image and niche over other police dramas. The pastels came back in season 4, but by then the stories became too far-fetched to be believable (such as "The Big Thaw" and "Missing Hours") and the episodes began taking dark turns, resulting in more violent endings than in seasons past. In Season 4, Wolf moved to co-executive producer (along with Mann) but continued to contribute stories to the series. To improve the show's sagging ratings, Sheena Easton was brought in as Crockett's pop singer wife, Caitlin. The idea worked, but Easton's character was killed off in the season's pentimulate episode, "Deliver Us From Evil", and a cliffhanger was created as Crockett became his drug-dealer alter-ego, Sonny Burnett, after a head injury caused amnesia, and began working for ''the drug dealers he was trained to stop, shooting Tubbs in the process. Season 5 The final season saw the resolution to the cliffhanger, as Crockett's memory was restored and he brought down the very drug cartel he led, but the consequences of his actions would haunt him for the rest of the season, Wolf left the series to create his own police drama, ''Law & Order, leaving Mann as the only executive producer, but had little to do with the show even though his other series, Crime Story, ''was cancelled at the end of the 1988 season. Jan Hammer left the series and the background music changed to Tim Truman's more gritty sound compared to Hammer's smooth synth vibes, though Hammer's intro remained intact for the final season. The show's episodes began to "push the envelope" with rougher language, more violence, and things not normally presented on television in the 1980s (such as a homosexual relationship and child molestation). There were few episodes where the entire regular cast appeared. Switek developed a gambling problem that would cause him pain throughout the season, and Crockett and Tubbs began to feel the hopelessness of their jobs, fighting increased corruption, political pressure, and government intervention, culminating in their quitting the force in the series finale, "Freefall". Series history and cancellation The series' pilot episode aired in September, 1984, on a Sunday night. The show moved to Fridays at 10:00pm (known as the Friday Night Death Slot because most viewers are not home at that time), where it remained for the first two seasons. ''Miami Vice's ''ratings were fair during season 1 until the summer reruns, when people who may have been watching the show's competition caught the series for the first time, and the reruns consistently reached the Top 10. Season 2's ratings were the best of the series, ending at #9. Season 3 saw the series moved to the 9:00 time slot (where it remained until near the end of season 4), directly competing with CBS' mega-hit ''Dallas, and while both shows' ratings were affected, Miami Vice's were impacted worse, falling out of the Top 10. By Season 5, viewers were turning to cop shows such as 21 Jump Street ''and ''Wiseguy with'' a younger cast, and the higher production costs associated with the series resulted in NBC pulling the plug in 1989 with the "Freefall" series finale. But NBC had four episodes that had not aired, so the network moved the show to Wednesdays at 10:00 and aired three of the "lost episodes" in June, 1989, the fourth was declared inappropriate for broadcast and not aired on the network. The show moved to syndication on USA Network in the fall of 1989 and they aired the final unaired episode, "Too Much, Too Late", in January of 1990. The series has appeared on the cable networks FX, TNN/Spike, TV Land, and Sleuth. Currently, the Centric Network is airing the series. The first four seasons (except for "French Twist", and "Rising Sun Of Death") are available free (with commercials) on Hulu.com, all five seasons (except "French Twist") are available on Casttv.com (with restrictions, see site for info), on Hulu Plus (monthly fee $9.99), and the entire series is on DVD with all original music intact. Influence ''Miami Vice's influence on popular culture has been far-reaching and the show is considered by many to be one of the most influential television series ever made. Arguably it's most defining and innovative feature was it's frequent inclusion of music as an integral part of a scene, and this technique is now a common feature of modern TV dramas. However, the show's influence extends far beyond that of television. The heavy use of pastel clothes had a direct effect on the fashions of the time, and sales of Ray-Ban Wayfarers enjoyed a huge boost after their appearance as Sonny Crockett's sunglasses of choice on the show. Possibly the single greatest homage to the show is the PlayStation 2 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which, aside from the broad-ranging similarities (heavy inclusion of 80's music - including new wave, glam metal and synthesizer pop - organized crime, drug trafficking, styled cars, pastel clothes, the use of 'Vice' in the title etc), several specific references are included. For example, when the player achieves a three-star wanted level or above they will be chased by two casually dressed undercover cops, one Caucasian and one African-American, who drive a police Cheetah, a car heavily modelled after the 1986 Testarossa. Furthermore, the Cheetah they drive is often coloured white. Another direct link to Miami Vice is the inclusion of "Crockett's Theme" on the in-game radio station Emotion 98.3. Many other songs that were used in Miami Vice, including "Missing You" by John Waite and "Turn Up The Radio" by Autograph, were also featured on the game's fictional radio, and the Vice City intro theme was composed in the style of Jan Hammer, specifically his "Miami Vice Theme". Aside from music, one of the game's primary characters, Lance Vance, was voiced by none other than Philip Michael Thomas. Also, several vehicles in Vice City were modelled after vehicles from the TV series, including the Squalo (Sonny's speedboat), the Stinger (Crockett's Daytona), and the Infernus (a Lamborghini Countach, featured heavily in "Bought and Paid For"). In 2010 the Nike shoe company created an ad for NBA star LeBron James (who played for the Miami Heat) which was a parody on a number of pop culture items while he tried to determine what he wanted to do. When he suggested that he could go into acting, the ''Miami Vice ''logo appeared, and Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett appeared, complete with his white blazer, pastel T-shirt and "designer stubble", with LeBron in Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs' trademark suit and tie, with "Crockett's Theme" playing in the background. Category:Miami Vice